True to the Faith The Acts of the Apostles: Defining and Defending the Gospel

580 Pages·2014·8.48 MB·English

True to the Faith
Myrtlefield Expositions
Myrtlefield Expositions provide insights into the thought-flow and
meaning of the biblical writings, motivated by devotion to the Lord who
reveals himself in the Scriptures. Scholarly, engaging, and accessible,
each book addresses the reader’s mind and heart to increase faith in
God and to encourage obedience to his Word. Teachers, preachers and
all students of the Bible will find the approach to Scripture adopted in
these volumes both instructive and enriching.
The Riches of Divine Wisdom (NT use of OT)
According to Luke (The Third Gospel)
In the School of Christ (John 13–17)
True to the Faith (Acts of the Apostles)
An Unshakeable Kingdom (Letter to the Hebrews)
Other books by David Gooding:
The Bible and Ethics (with John Lennox)
Christianity: Opium or Truth? (with John Lennox)
Definition of Christianity (with John Lennox)
How to Teach the Tabernacle
Key Bible Concepts (with John Lennox)
Windows on Paradise (Gospel of Luke)
True to the Faith
The Acts of the Apostles:
Defining and Defending the Gospel
David Gooding
Myrtlefield House
David Gooding has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
© Myrtlefield Trust, 1990, 1995, 2013.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re­
trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher
or a license permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licenses are issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are the author’s own transla­
tion. Scripture quotations marked jps are from The Holy Scriptures according to
the Masoretic Text, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1917 (now in the
public domain). Scripture quotations marked kjv are from the King James Version
(Authorised Version) of the Holy Bible. Scripture quotations marked neb are taken
from the New English Bible, copyright © Cambridge University Press and Oxford
University Press 1961, 1970. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked niv are
from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright ©
1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved world­
wide. Scripture quotations marked rsv are from Revised Standard Version of the
Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture
quotations marked rv are from the English Revised Version of the Holy Bible (1885).
Italics within Scripture quotations indicate emphasis added.
Cover design: Ben Bredeweg.
Cover images: Codex Sinaiticus (01) Aleph Uncial MS showing Acts 26:6–7. The
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts <http://www.csntm.org> has
granted permission for this image to be used. The painting is from a public domain
image of Trial of the Apostle Paul (Суд над апостолом Павлом) by Nikolai Bodarevsky
(1875). The original is in the Regional Art Museum, Uzhgorod, Ukraine.
First published in English 1990 by Hodder and Stoughton.
Published by The Myrtlefield Trust, 180 Mountsandel Road,
Coleraine, N Ireland, BT52 1TB.
w: www.myrtlefieldhouse.com
e: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-1-874584-30-3 (hbk.)
ISBN: 978-1-874584-31-5 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-1-874584-32-2 (PDF)
ISBN: 978-1-874584-33-9 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-874584-34-6 (EPUB without DRM)
17 16 15 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
For Michael and Elizabeth Middleton

Contents
List of Tables x
List of Abbreviations xi
Author’s Preface xiii
Introduction: Why Study Acts? 1
Section One: Christianity and the Restoration of All Things
(1:1–6:7)
Preliminary Observations 21
Movement 1: Christ’s Programme for the Restoration of
All Things (1:1–4:4) 33
Movement 2: Opposition to the Programme (4:5–6:7) 97
Section Two: Christianity’s Worship and Witness (6:8–9:31)
Preliminary Observations 127
Movement 1: The Gospel and Judaism’s Orthodox
Worship (6:8–8:3) 134
Movement 2: The Gospel and Samaria’s Unorthodox
Worship (8:4–25) 160
Movement 3: The Gospel of the Suffering Servant (8:26–40) 173
Movement 4: The Gospel of the Son of God (9:1–31) 179
Section Three: The Christian Theory and Practice of Holiness
(9:32–12:24)
Preliminary Observations 191
Movement 1: The Gospel Released from Jewish Social
Isolationism (9:32–11:18) 197
Movement 2: The Gospel Freed from Jewish Administrative
Centralism and Political Sacralism (11:19–12:24) 219
Contents
Section Four: The Christian Doctrine of Salvation (12:25–16:5)
Preliminary Observations 239
Movement 1: The Preaching of the Good News of
Salvation (12:25–14:28) 245
Movement 2: The Discussion of the Terms of Salvation
(15:1–16:5) 266
Section Five: Christianity and the Pagan World (16:6–19:20)
Preliminary Observations 289
Movement 1: The Holy Spirit and the Powers of
Darkness (16:6–40) 299
Movement 2: God’s Messiah and Gentile Politics,
Religion and Philosophy (17:1–34) 331
Movement 3: God’s Messiah and the New People of God
(18:1–28) 370
Movement 4: The Holy Spirit and the Name of the
Lord Jesus (19:1–20) 383
Section Six: Christianity and the Defence and Confirmation
of the Gospel (19:21–28:31)
Preliminary Observations 395
Movement 1: The Defence of Nature-Worship and the
Defence of the Church of God (19:21–21:16) 414
Movement 2: The Gospel to be Judged by its Respect for
Conscience (21:17–23:11) 432
Movement 3: The Gospel to be Judged by its Attitude to
Morality and the Law (23:12–24:27) 455
Movement 4: The Gospel to be Judged by its Message for
Caesar and the World (25:1–26:32) 466
Movement 5: Nature’s Storms and the Kingly Rule of God
(27:1–28:31) 482
viii